Rebuilding mogadishu
Abdikadir Bare Abikar
future game
Hello, friends look at my future rebuilding Mogadishu game, a brief definition of the Mogadishu the city I am basing my future game is that “Mogadishu (Somali: Muqdisho) is the capital city of the African country of Somalia. It is also the largest city in that country. It is located in the coastal Banadir region on the Somali Sea. The city has been an important port for the region for many centuries. Estimates of the city's population are between 1.5 and 3 million people. Mogadishu has had many years of fighting between militias. This is because the government of Somalia fell in 1991. The city Had all this ups and downs, I am planning to use a gameplay that is named “rebuilding Mogadishu”, and My game is based on the idea that Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, has also been in war for so long and I think using gaming to teach the civilians is the only way out of war and conflict is important, and developing a game model to reconstruct the capital city is one idea I hold on to. Besides that, using Darfur is Dying as a reference, I would also look into the challenges like how accessible it will be, either through the use of mobile devices or as an online like the Darfur is Dying game was played. And lastly, my planned games is a little bit different in that; it is not a survival game designed by NGOs as Darfur was created, which was to educate and support activities, but a world-building game, where the goal is not survival, but reconstructing unstable Mogadishu. My game will educate players outside of Somalia and Dadaab, the game is designed for Somali players and youth so they can envision and strategize building a new future. Richard has also worked with me in my previous course so this first post I am hoping we can also interact and exchange ideas and thoughts with other classmates. What do you think or thoughts my game will be? How can I make this game working and be used in Somalia? Or what should use, include or avoid from this game? Please help me your ideas, give me suggestions.
Hi Abdikadir,
This game sounds like a really interesting endeavour. In terms of ideas, I actually have a bunch of questions:
- is there a win condition to the game? How will the city be reconstructed as stable?
- what resources do the players have, and how will they be limited?
- what conflict(s) exist in the game?
- if it is cooperate, how does the game work against the players?
- what does a player "do" on their "turn"?
- is there a game you are modelling this after, in terms of how it is constructed/played?
- what do you want the player to feel while/or after playing this game?
I am very happy to offer ideas and give feedback. I am hoping these initial questions are useful!
(Richard)
Good general game questions! I think with a future-looking modelling/simulation and story game, defining the aim and the challenges and the story is the first step. What is the premise? What is the story to be told? And what are the interactive choices, challenges, and experiences players might engage (Richard pointed this out above)?
Also - in what role does the player "play"? As a Somali educator? A refugee returning?
Also, can you (Abdikadir) draw upon the history of Mogadishu (it was once a very cosmopolitan city) to consider how the past might shape the future? But also how to address the fundamental conflicts that led to civil war and how to ensure those conflicts do not arise again (through the re-building process, through political and educational institutions that might support an imagined future?)
I think Richard's question - "what do you want the player to feel while/or after playing this game?" - is really important, too (Bogost emapthy games idea).
I imagine that this game can't offer any perfect "solution", but you might be able to help players understand the situation and pathways forward. Imagined pathways can help people envision and begin to act together
(Kurt)
Hi All,
Questions seem on point and will surely help with playercentric design - I look forward to the responses/ideas. I also think that building is a great 'antidote' to war/conflict, and a good theme to start from.
I have a general question that may help define scope. Abdikadir, when you use the terms 're/building' - to what are you referring?
If you want construction and preservation of important buildings and infrastructure, this gets at important themes in social/urban capital assets (people having the shared assets they need to live, work, play, etc.) as well as being obvious markers of history
Maybe you want to improve the general day-to-day life of being a citizen, and its processes as 'building'. For example, getting rid of inefficiency in public transit, increasing transparency and legitimacy in city decision making, etc.
I'm sure there's other interpretations of re/building as well (e.g. fortifying) so let me know if you're thinking something entirely different. (Vocabulary challenges are coming to life as warned in the communication section(s) of Fullerton's workshop resource, haha).
(Edmund)
